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President Dana White criticized UFC referee Mark Smith for a delayed stoppage at UFC 246. UFC 246 was headlined by 'The Notorious' Conor McGregor's return to the UFC against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone, after being absent for about a year.
McGregor went on to score a first-round TKO in the main event. The card also featured other stars like Holly Holms, Anthony 'Showtime' Pettis, Maurice Green, and Aleksei Oleinik.
However, UFC president Dana White was buzzing after the event with concerns over the referees. Dana White strongly expressed his disappointment about how referees officiated certain bouts over the night.
In a post-fight press conference, Dana White expressed his opinion about the refereeing that night via Nolan King of MMA Junkie. The fight in question was a lightweight bout in the preliminary card between Drew Dober and Nasrat Haqparast.
According to Dana, referee Mark Smith allowed Nasrat Haqparast to take too much unnecessary punishment before stopping the fight. Drew Dober viciously KO'd Nasrat Haqparast within one minute and 10 seconds of the very first round. Dana White opined in his post-fight press conference:
"The Dober fight, he got hit with like 12 unanswered shots. The reffing wasn’t 100 percent tonight. That’s a fact.”
Why Dana White thought that the referees were not up to the mark
The UFC president's concerns over the officiating also stemmed from another fight at UFC 246. The other bout where referee Jason Herzog raised concerns with his approach was the Co-main women's bantamweight bout between Holly Holmes and Raquel Pennington.
Dana White voiced his frustration over the fact that referee Jason Herzog refrained from splitting up the fighters even though they were spending a lot of time in the clinch with minimal or no activity.
However, when questioned about a late stoppage in the main event, Dana White did not readily agree and admitted that refereeing is indeed a tough job. While acknowledging the human margin for error concerning officiating in any sport, Dana stated:
"At the end of the day, the reality is we’re not in there. We’re not the refs. I wish it could be perfect, but it’s never going to be perfect. It’s never going to be perfect in football, basketball, or any other sport. It’s never going to be perfect here."
Check out: Complete list of the UFC Referees
